Sunday, October 23, 2011

I like this song from 1994. There seems to be the sense of chaos and the sense of calmness flowing simultaneously in this song. I wish some filmmakers use this song in a martial arts practicing/fighting scene.

In my imaginary film, a female character who has practiced her power while the song FLUTTER (Autechre) was playing in the background should fight against another female character who has practiced her power while the song LUSH 3-5 (Orbital/CJ Bolland) was playing in the background.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H00FOtOr-U

ถ้าหากผู้กำกับจะเอาดีกับหนังโรคจิตแบบนี้ เราขอแนะนำว่าให้ดูหนังอย่าง THE WITCH (Alwa Ritsila) หรือ THE STORY ABOUT YOU AND ME (Alwa Ritsila) เป็นตัวอย่างนะ เราว่าหนังสองเรื่องนี้แหละที่นำเสนอความโรคจิตของตัวละครออกมาได้อย่างน่าสนใจตลอดทั้งเรื่องhttp://vimeo.com/14085858http://vimeo.com/13837222

Phase II Day 29: A film that changed your preconceptions about cinema -- WINDOW (1999, Apichatpong Weerasethakul). I saw this film on August 15, 1999, and it made me realize how blissful a non-narrative film can be.

Phase II Day 28: A film that you wished another filmmaker would have made, and which filmmaker -- If the question is "a film that you wished another filmmaker would remake", I will answer JUDEX (1963, Georges Franju), and I hope someone like Tsui Hark, Su Chao-Bin (REIGN OF ASSASSINS), Ching Siu-Tung (SWORDSMAN II), or Johnnie To (THE HEROIC TRIO) will remake it, because I think JUDEX can be adapted into a martial arts film with a powerful villainess. The villainess' role played by Francine Bergé in JUDEX can be played by someone like Maggie Q in the new version.

"The movie begins with a mesmerizing shot, and it never lets me down after that. 'Cold Homeland' is so warm with humanity and shows many ordinary people who can hold my attention entirely with stories of their lives. But it's not only their stories that are captivating; more importantly, it is mainly the magical directing talent of Koepp which makes this movie extraordinary.

What makes this movie so special to me is that while I was watching it,I felt so drawn into it as if I were also in that place. Koepp can make me really 'feel' the place, not just seeing it. He can transform the screen into a magical door and makes me feel if I walked into that door, I would step into that faraway land at once. He can really capture the sense of the land with his subliminally powerful scenery shots. There are many shots in the movie which represent only landscapes. These scenery shots are not there to show how beautiful this land is, nor they are there just to inform the audience about how this land really looks like. I feel these scenery shots are much more than that. By inserting these shots appropriately in the movie, Koepp let the landscapes speak for themselves. He can make the landscapes-- the trees, the grass, the wind, the stones, the buildings, or even the sunshine there-- reveal their own 'feelings' and make the landscapes embrace the audience with their tender arms. This is pure magic!

Koepp is also very talented in making people speak. Though some people speak little, what they speak means a lot and has strong feelings within it. Other people in the movie speak a lot about their past, and though they tell the stories of their lives calmly, something from their past, something from their hearts makes me cry. I really don't know why I feel like crying when the old woman starts singing. And when she reveals her past, I find her story one of the most impressive and deeply touching. Listening to some people in this movie telling their lives for 2 minutes can stir more powerful emotions and leave long-lasting impressions than seeing some fictional 2-hour movies. Some stories told are really unforgettable, and I don't want to forget them because they make the word 'life' much more meaningful to me than before.

Koepp is also talented in representing some interesting aspects and information about that place, especially the information about the ethnic diversity of people living there. I learn a lot about this astonishing part of the world from this movie. This movie does not only carry the audience on a visual journey through this special land, but it also lets the audience touch the land, feel the land, breathe the air of the land, admire the soul of the land, and admire the spirits of people living there."

Phase II Day 21: A film you think every woman should watch and why -- BREMEN FREEDOM (1972, Rainer Werner Fassbinder), because some of the female audience may find this film very touching. The film is adapted from a real case of a woman who murdered 15 people. I wrote about this film here:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068314/reviews?start=1

Phase II Day 19: Your favorite film portraying a fictional monster -- THE MIST (2007, Frank Darabont). I think what's great about this film is that the hero has to deal with both "monsters" and "human beings as monsters" (the people who believe in Mrs Carmody).

Phase II Day 18: The most controversial film you have ever seen -- AN ARIA ON GAZE (1992, Hisayasu Sato). This sadomasochistic film stars Issei Sagawa, who killed and ate a woman in 1981. The film is controversial for both its content and its choice of actor.

Phase II Day 14: A canonic filmmaker that you just can't stand -- No one. But if it is about a Nouvelle Vague filmmaker whom I like the least, I will answer François Truffaut. I like his TWO ENGLISH GIRLS (1971) and THE BRIDE WORE BLACK (1967) very much, but I just much prefer Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, and Claude Chabrol to him.

Phase II Day 11: A filmmaker who used to be amazing but has lost his/her touch -- Chatrichalerm Yukol. I think THE LAST LOVE (1975, Chatrichalerm Yukol) is great, and I want to screen it alongside other great films about marital problems which are directed by Philippe Garrel, Maurice Pialat, Jacques Doillon, or Claude Sautet. But I don't like his NARESUAN film series made in 2007-2011.

Phase II Day 5: Your favorite film about religion or faith -- THÉRÈSE (1986, Alain Cavalier, France) and CAMINO (2008, Javier Fesser, Spain). These two films are like two sides of the same coin. One shows the good side of faith, while the other shows the bad side.